Chaplain Mike Mercer is one of the long-time faithful friends of this web site. Many of you will recognize him as a frequent commenter. Mike has gone the extra mile to befriend me and that has been a true gift.

I wanted to do this interview because Mike is now involved in pastoral care of the dying and their families as a full-time ministry. This is an area where evangelical ministers and younger pastors need encouragement and help. Because pastoral care is so closely bound up with the integrity of the Gospel as a Word from God for the dying, I think this is a very worthy subject.

This is a long interview. One of IM’s longest. I have decided to keep it intact as one interview, though if discussion is sufficient we may venture to a second post for more focused discussion.

One request: When you share how pastoral care is done in your tradition, please do so from what you know, not from what “the instructions” say should be done. And be constructive and helpful.

Tell us a little about yourself, your journey as a Christian and your current ministry. [Continue reading]

COMMENTS CLOSED

My sincere thanks to Bryan Cross and all the commenters in this discussion. The majority of our discussion has been constructive and helpful. Of course, there are deep feelings at work in these issues and some commenters reflect various levels of understanding other traditions and various levels of being able to communicate without rancor.

This final post deals with three issues causing continuing disagreement: Marian devotion, the doctrine of purgatory and the nature of the Catholic Eucharist.

10. Most Protestants would see three major impediments to reunion: Tradition in relation to scripture, the Papacy and the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Laying these aside, give me a quick assessment of three other issues that may be less intractable:

1) Marian devotion [Continue reading]

My continuing interview with Bryan Cross now covers something very important: the Second Vatican Council and its implications for Protestant-Catholic relations.

9. What should every Protestant know about Vatican II?

The Second Vatican Council took place from 1963-1965, and was the twenty-first ecumenical council, following the First Vatican Council in 1869-70. Vatican II produced sixteen documents; among the most well-known are:

Sacrosanctum concilium, Sacred Liturgy, 1963.
Lumen Gentium, On the Church, 1964.
Unitatis Redintegratio, Ecumenism, 1964.
Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution On Divine Revelation, 1965.
Dignitatis Humanae, On Religious Freedom, 1965.
Gaudium et Spes, On the Church In the Modern World,1965. [Continue reading]

5. What is your assessment of Pope Benedict’s opening the doors of the church to disaffected Anglicans? Will this speed up the path into the priesthood for men in the Anglican ministry?

For a number of years now, thousands of Anglicans have been asking the Holy See to allow them to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving unique aspects of the Anglican tradition. One factor that held up that request was the possibility that the Anglican communion would move in a more traditional direction (and hence toward greater agreement with the Catholic Church). But when the vote at last year’s Lambeth Conference showed that Anglicans had chosen to accept female bishops, the Anglican communion showed itself to have chosen to move further toward Protestantism, and depart further from apostolic succession. Pope Benedict apparently decided that the present prospects for the reunion of Canterbury with Rome are such that they will not be significantly worsened by opening the doors to Anglicans who wish to preserve elements of their Anglican patrimony in full communion with the Holy See. Pope Benedict’s fundamental motivation here is just what he said in his first address as pope, “The current Successor [to John Paul II] assumes as his primary commitment that of working tirelessly towards the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of all Christ’s followers.” He is seeking to be a minister of Christ’s peace in the fulfilling of Christ’s prayer in John 17. [Continue reading]

My interview with Bryan Cross continues with questions about how Protestants hear talk of unity, tensions in the Catholic Church and how Protestants and Catholics should view the Reformation.

2. Does Christian Unity mean “Protestants becoming Roman Catholics?”

In the Creed we refer to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Those are the four marks of the Church. Unity as a mark of the Church refers to unity of faith, unity of sacraments, and unity of government. These three correspond to the three roles of prophet, priest, and king; all three roles came together in Christ, and remain together in His Church. Even if we share the same faith, and the same sacraments, until we are one in government we are still divided. [Continue reading]

REMINDER: Commenters should remember that the future interview segments will cover many topics.

A few days ago I asked Catholic blogger and philosopher Bryan Cross to do an interview here at IM on the subject of Christian Unity. Bryan blogs at Principium Unitatis. Bryan is a prolific writer and was gracious to do the interview. He’s given me enough content for several posts, so I am going to divide the interview into three parts. In part one, Bryan will talk about his journey from Pentecostal to Calvinist to Anglican to Catholic. Then I’ll post his answer to my first question on his personal passion for Christian unity.

Bryan is a patient teacher and apologist. Obviously, many IM readers will disagree with parts of his presentation while others will applaud. Having given articulate Lutherans and Anglicans space this year, I want to give Bryan time to talk about his personal mission of promoting church unity and reunion in the Catholic Church.

Some of you may want to read Bryan’s response to the “All the Romery People” piece at Mockingbird.

Thanks for coming to Internet Monk.com for this interview, Bryan. Take a couple of paragraphs and tell us your basic story, what you are doing now and about your family.

Thanks Michael for the invitation. I’ve enjoyed reading Internet Monk.com for the last couple years. I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to it in this way. [Continue reading]

I’m very happy to have Keith Williams, one of the editors of the “Mosaic” Bible (NLT) that I’ve recently promoted here at IM, answering some of your questions about the NLT and the special Mosaic edition.

You can find the entire Mosaic Blog tour schedule here. Check out the various sites and all the questions and answers that have been published. The NLT Mosaic web site is a great resource. (Want a Christian year calendar for your Google Calendar?) You can buy the Mosaic Bible at Amazon. You’ll find all these links and resources behind the clickable ad on the sidebar.

So let’s get down to some of the questions contributed by IM readers for Keith and his answers.

How will the Mosaic Bible help someone coming from a Free-Church background (ie, Baptist) who is completely unfamiliar with the Christian Year as well as other elements of liturgical worship connect with broader Christian tradition and incorporate them in his or her devotional life? [Continue reading]

I have been wanting to do an interview with an articulate and perceptive non-theist, and I have found one in Dr. Valerie Tarico, author of The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth.

What’s the point?

1. Evangelicals are constantly mischaracterizing non-theists. We need to listen and not preach.
2. There is some common ground of concern here for many of us, especially in the area of the ethical practices of religions that seek to convert.
3. We need to measure our responses against reality. Some of our typical talking points aren’t very impressive, so we might consider retiring or reworking them.
4. I want to build a bridge. Dr. Tarico is very open to that kind of dialog.

Dr. Valerie Tarico is a former evangelical who now describes herself as a spiritual nontheist. Her book The Dark Side distills her moral and rational critique of Evangelical teachings. Tarico is a graduate of Wheaton College. She obtained a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Iowa before completing postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington. She writes regularly for the Huffington Post and hosts a monthly series on SCAN TV Seattle: Moral Politics – Christianity in the Public Square. Last year Tarico founded www.WisdomCommons.org, an interactive website with quotes, stories and poems from around the world all promoting shared ethical values. Her essays about society, faith, and family life can be found at www.spaces.msn.com/awaypoint.

Dr. Tarico, welcome to the Internet Monk.com interview. [Continue reading]

UPDATE: Baptists might want to read this post on semi-Pelagianism, and enjoy the Tom Petty video

If you’ve been paying attention, you should have noticed that the most interesting blog out in the Christian/Reformation blogosphere is Mockingbird, the front page to the world of Mockingbird Ministries. Dead on, provocative stuff with the strong scent of Luther’s Law/Gospel cookbook in every post.

In addition to being Lutheranized Anglicans, Mockingbird has a major connection to my current theological hero, Paul Zahl. I’ve been enjoying the blog and all the resources available at Mockingbird, and I believe we’re looking at the ground floor of something very important and significant: the beginnings of a significant voice that balances engagement of the culture at many levels- not just as fans, but as thoughtful communicators and observers- with Lutheran flavored Reformation Christianity.

I asked Mockingbird posse member David Zahl- yeah, that Zahl- to answer five questions and get all of the IM audience up to speed. (David will point out some resources at the web site. You MUST download and enjoy the 2009 Conference audio. Priceless talks and not the same old same old.)

I’m very honored to have David Zahl from Mockingbird Ministries here at the IM Interview today. [Continue reading]

Jared Wilson is the author Your Jesus Is Too Safe and the blogmeister at Gospeldrivenchurch.com.

1. You’re obviously influenced by the rhetorical style of someone like Driscoll, in that you are communicating intensely, but with humor and pop-culture to counter-balance. Yet, you’ve managed to put the emphasis on the Biblical content, not on the style or the preacher. What would say to all those young preachers who want to imitate guys like Chandler and Driscoll?

Well, there are worse guys you could imitate. Some practical advice would be to mix it up. Don’t just listen to one or two guys. Listen to several, or many if you have the time. Take a breather from podcasting. You WILL pick up not just sermon points but actual vocal inflections and figures of speech and tics from these guys if you listen to them too much. I think young guys like me especially have a wiring to absorb and regurgitate, to ape. (It’s borderline autistic how we go through lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail or Beavis & Butthead or whatever.) And we like rock stars. And we, like all people, are idolaters. And this can all happen really subtly. [Continue reading]

As we were discussing the subject of “Can We Be Too God-Centered?,” I remembered an excellent book I’d read a couple of years ago: Heaven Is A Place On Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters To God by Dr. Michael Wittmer.

I contacted Dr. Wittmer and he graciously agreed to a blog interview here at Internet Monk.com. Check out the interview, leave your comments and check out both of Dr. Wittmer’s books. Here’s the brief bio he provided.

“Mike Wittmer is Professor of Systematic Theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. Grand Rapids is the home of Rich DeVos, who owns the Orlando Magic, who bounced Cleveland from the NBA playoffs. Mike grew up in Northeast Ohio, and has been waiting his entire life for Cleveland to win a championship. Now, thanks to his Christian neighbor, the ordeal continues. Mike distracts himself from his cursed teams by spending time with his wife, Julie, and their three young children.” [Continue reading]

UPDATE: I’m just curious: do some of you always descend into railing preacher mode when you encounter a person who isn’t on the same page as you, or is today just not your day?

Internet Monk.com is extremely honored to have Christine Wicker in the house for the IM interview segment today. Christine is the author of the book that blew my mind for at least two weeks, Fall of the Evangelical Nation. She is also currently is working on adapting some of her other books for television and planning a conference on literature and ethics.

Many of you have read Christine’s book and find her research interesting and provocative as I do. It’s great to have her at IM for a few questions. After snacks served by the gracious Van Til, we got to the interview.

1. Thank you, Christine, for doing this interview. You made it clear in your book that you grew up among evangelicals, but are no longer an evangelical or part of the Christian community. Can you tell us a little bit about your own faith journey and what were the significant contributing experiences to where you are now?

I wrote a book called “God Knows My Heart” in which I tried to figure all that out while covering religion for The Dallas Morning News. I was pretty devout as a kid and even in college.

Why did I leave? I once replied off the cuff that I wanted a world bigger than the Baptist Student Union. That might sum it up. [Continue reading]

I’ve long admired pastor, blogger and cartoonist David Hayward, aka The Naked Pastor. (That’s Naked. Not “Nekkid.” He’s not up to anything.) I’ve been excited about this interview and it’s proven to be everything I hoped for.

David has a fascinating journey and a point of view the IM audience will appreciate. I’ve already gotten one email telling me I should have nothing to do with him, so he’s good people.

David pastors a Vineyard in Canada, and he will give you the whole story. And those of you who like a little Vineyard excitement, don’t give up before the last question!

1. Thanks for doing the IM interview David. Tell us about the name “The Naked Pastor.”

Thanks for inviting me to do this interview. My first post on nakedpastor was on February 3, 2006. I wanted to lay my life out there as a pastor. I wanted to bare my soul. Many pastors hide behind a wall of illusion that we co-dependently create with our communities. We try to act as if we have it together and people like to think we have it together just like they want us to think that they have it together. That’s a debilitating lie. I think my blog helps to dispel that. Which is why I think it is offensive to some. Some read my blog and say: here’s a guy who struggles with the same things I do and he’s a pastor of a church! Some see that as dangerous. [Continue reading]

It’s my third go around on my favorite radio/podcast program.

We talked about Halloween, the Election and House, M.D.

If SBE isn’t on your itunes, you’re missing one of the best treats on the web.

Thanks to Erik, Kathy and Steve for a great time.

My guest today is Julie Neidlinger, who blogs at loneprairie.net and recently wrote a very honest and controversial post called “Why I Walked Out of Church.” That post has been discussed all around the blogosphere over the past month. I’m assuming you’ve read that post before you read this interview, otherwise you’ll be in the dark.

First, a bit of a bio from Julie’s website.

“Julie R. Neidlinger is both a writer and a visual artist. She writes, she paints, and she photographs — but no matter what medium she chooses, she excels in finding and describing the universal themes that connect North Dakota to the larger, outside world. She has written for a small newspaper, but she is probably best known as the voice of Lone Prairie, a hugely popular website and blog that ranked as one of the top 400 blogs in the “TruthLaidBear” ecosystem at one time. She lives on a farm near Hampden, N.D., and she has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Moorhead State University.” [Continue reading]